2008: A Year in Review
Happy New Year! I trust that you all had a good, safe, happy, Guitar Hero-filled holiday season. I’ve been trying to think of something brilliant to say about 2008, but having come up with nothing, here’s a list of what I did with those 52 weeks.
- items returned to Target: at least 30 (and I’ve already returned one thing in 2009)
- blog posts: 213
- times served as a bridesmaid: 3
- marriage proposals from Donald Miller: 0
- trips outside of the country: 1
- trips to the Washington, DC area: 3
- number of miles walked in DC: 21
- amount of money raised for breast cancer research, prevention and education: $5,400 (Go Rack Pack!!)
- haircuts: 1
- cellular minutes used: approximately 20,000
- (number of DAYS on the phone: 14)
- boyfriends: 1
- roommates: 3.5
- weddings attended: 9?
- months survived just barely: 1
- houses painted: 1.5
- times I cringed at “Baby, Baby”: too many
- shows and concerts attended: 8?
- books read: 6 - Is that it?! That’s pathetic. And depressing. (New Year’s resolution: read more)
- Sundays in church: 51 probably
- spastic dance parties in my car: impossible to say
- parties thrown: 5
- new holiday recipes: 4
- trips to New York: 1
- trips to WILKESBORO!!!!!: 3
- times the letter jacket was worn: 0
Stay tuned for an oh-so-scientific projection of what’s to come in 2009!
Filed under books, dancing, church, writing, travel, fashion, internet dating, hair, "celebrities", Avon Walk, friends, music, food | Comment (1)wow!
Man, this week just FLEW by didn’t it?! I absolutely cannot believe it’s Monday again already! Or that it’s been so long since I updated you (if you’re still out there reading). Or that I only have four more days of classes left. Or that I really don’t need to plan for them at all! So I’ll say it again… Man. Crazy fast. This whole year, really, has flown by, and I suppose I should take the time to reflect upon it.
I think the thing I’ve spent the most time on this year has been my Home/Community Group (it was called home group for the first half of the year and then community group for the second half). When I look back through “the database,” that’s mostly what I see. I suppose that’s partly due to the fact that I’ve been planning my lessons in a word processor and not writing as much, but it’s also that the group has been a huge part of my life. I love looking back through our Bible study notes, prayer requests and random quotes and remembering when everything happened and who was there.
Some memorable quotes are as follows:
Whitney: You’re not even writing. You’re just making marks.
Me: That’s writing.(In a British accent) Scripture bit me…and it really hurt. And it’s still…hurting.
Note to self: Name your first son “Randy James.”
G. Lover: Somebody’s upset in here. I can smell it.
I want to go grey in style.
Take a whiff of your life.
Me: I love that you have a real fire place. With real fire.
Someone A: And real wood.
Someone B: (as Kelley sticks her hand in the fire to place a new piece of real wood) And real burns.
G. Lover: And real skin grafts.
The group has changed a lot over the year. Back in January, it was still largely made up of the hoes that started it. But two of them got married, two still live here but go to different churches now, and some we’d already lost at that point. It’s a very different group now, some new and some not so new, and it’s been really neat to see everyone come together. We had a wee dinner party last night before Bible study, and almost everyone was there. And as I looked around at them all, I just felt so lucky. Lucky to be an instrument of people-gathering and community-building. And lucky to be a member of the community. All those ladies just have so much to offer and to teach, and I love having them as a part of my life. Even those who couldn’t come last night, or who’ve gone on to do other things now. They are included in that sentiment.
There are plenty of other “Themes for the Year” that I could talk about, but one is enough for now. Thanks, Community Group, for making all my Sunday nights better than they would be without you. Hey, remember when Dooley ate all the cornbread muffins? Yeah, that was great.
Filed under writing, church, Scripture, friends, food | Comment (1)in case you were wondering
I emailed Santa here (and thanks, Stephanie, for the tip!). You fill out a little form with some basic info, and then you’re allowed to write anything you want to Santa. Well, not ANYthing. The first time I tried, my letter was censored because I used the word “stink.” As you will see here, I changed it to “smell.” This, apparently, is acceptable in Santa’s sight. As are inappropriate sexual innuendos.
Filed under writing, not normal, "celebrities", food | Comment (1)I think it must be very cold at the North Pole, Santa. How do you stay warm up there? I bet you and Mrs. Claus are all the time warming each other up, if you know what I mean. Of course you do, you sly old elf, you.
I imagine that it smells like candy and peppermint up there. At first, I thought that the reindeer might not smell so nice, but then again, they are magic. They probably smell like cocoa and cinnamon, huh?
day off to-do list
- Sleep in
- Greet plumber in jabambas with morning breath
- See that plumbing problems get repaired
- Run away with plumber for Vegas wedding
- Decide somewhere over Kansas that plumber and I are not meant to be
- Parachute out
- Visit HP while in Kansas
- Shower
- Make Thanksgiving grocery list and cooking guide
- Purchase necessary groceries
- Prep Cranberry-Apple Casserole
- Bake Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes (prep Cinnamon Icing)
- Giggle at silly pictures
- Work on some half-written articles
- Do some ddo editing
- Chat online
- Eat an english muffin with pumpkin butter
- Be thankful for having day off
- Dream of being professional writer and always having the option of running off with various service men without having to “take off” of work
Ok, let’s see. So far, I have completed items 1-3, 8-9, 13-16 and 18-20! Man, what a productive day! Now I’m going to do 17 and then 10-12.
Filed under writing, friends, Family, sleep/dreams, food | Comment (0)from KimSko
It just doesn’t occur to me sometimes that I say bizarre things that people who don’t know me might think are…very weird. For example, I got the following message on my facebook wall yesterday, and it cracked me up for about an hour. I don’t know Kim’s boss, and he does not know me. And I think if I ever met the dude, he’d be a tad afraid, having been introduced to Twitter by me announcing to the internets that “My genitals are…unavailable.” Enjoy.
Filed under writing, friends | Comment (0)So, I was explaining Twitter to my boss yesterday and I used yours as an example. Here’s how the conversation went:
Me: “Basically, you just write short sentences about what you’re doing or thinking”
Him: (reading your twitter) “My genitals are…”
Me: “Oh, maybe this wasn’t a good example”
Him: (paraphrasing) “I just changed clothes while driving on I-40″
silence
Him: “so, you just basically write weird stuff?”
Ha ha ha! Gotta love it!
Friday at last, Friday at LAST!
Thank God Almighty, it’s FRIDAY AT LAST! Man. It has been some kind of WEEK. I honestly couldn’t even tell you where all the time has gone, but I’ve felt just ridiculously busy. So much so that I have failed to regale you with anything interesting since last Friday! For that, I apologize. I hope that you’ve gotten more done at work this week without Onward Hoe! to distract you from your responsibilities. Let’s see if I can catch you up on the exciting things that have happened.
First of all, Jill got married. It was sweet and beautiful, and she played the fiddle at her own reception. Because she’s awesome. Then I caught the bouquet, and Guthrie (her new hubby) ran over a traffic cone in their get-away vehicle. With all his wedding guests watching. Good times, good friends, good fun.
Then, there was a lot of teaching. And I started going to bed earlier so I could spend a few minutes writing every night in addition to my nightly reading. It’s been off to a bumpy start, but habits take a while to form. I’ll get there.
I had a date last night with Whitney. She ate dinner (I’d already eaten), and then we went on a field trip to Target and Lowe’s Foods. They share a parking lot, which was convenient because we were in a hurry to get back, finish our OK! Magazine article on the Madonna/Guy Ritchie split, and watch The Office. So we went to Target first, returned a sweater I’d purchased, then flew across the parking lot to Lowe’s Foods. It was dark, and you know how those parking lots are. There are little islands everywhere, and you never can tell exactly where the exits are. They’re like mazes sometimes. So I was driving quickly while trying to make sure I didn’t hit anything, which sparked the following conversation:
Whitney: You seem a little unsure of where you’re going.
Me: (Rabidly) A LITTLE NIGHT BLINDNESS NEVER HURT NOBODY!
We both survived, by the way.
When we got home, we watched The Office while peeling grapes for the “Haunted Classroom” my students put on today. The grapes, in the dark, feel like eyeballs. It is very disgusting. We also watched 30 Rock for the first time, and I have to say, I’m hooked already (DLF, you were right). Whoever writes for Alec Baldwin’s character is a freaking genius. I mean, the part where he was talking about the Dora the Explorer underwear that were clearly made for an obese child…that was amazing.
Last night, I had a dream that I married my friend Jim, except I wasn’t actually at the ceremony. I just asked him about it later. He said it had all gone well. He’d said “I do” and everything.
So then today, my class set up and put on “Haunted Classroom 2008.” They’d spent a large part of Thursday planning it, and then when they came in this morning, it was all I could do to keep them on task for the first hour and a half before it was time to start setting the thing up. And by “on task,” I mean learning vocabulary and putting the lyrics to “Thriller” in order.
Anyway, at 10:30, we stopped “working” and started getting the diddy ready, and by 11:30, we had creepy sounds, cobwebs everywhere, the windows blacked out, skeletons hanging from the ceiling, severed heads on every table, a Taiwanese mummy, an Argentinian witch, a Ukrainian demon bar wench, a Tibetan monk vampire, a Hungarian ghost monster, several multicultural under-the-table goblins, and a Korean clown (handing out candy at the exit). I tell you, friends, it was a thing of beauty.
So after the long break, I put on the werewolf mask and hands they’d brought for me and went around to all the other classes, one by one, inviting them to come experience “HAUNTED CLASSROOM.” And surprisingly enough, people were actually freaked out by it. And my students had a BALL. They all felt, afterwards, as though they were truly ready for their first (in most cases) American Halloween. And that’s what I’m all about, y’all. Preparing them to enter the culture. Normally, I would teach them more Mary Kay-approved makeup techniques than covering one’s face in green eye shadow, but that’ll have to be another lesson. Maybe for when the Tibetan monk is absent.
Filed under music, fashion, books, writing, not normal, friends, food, "celebrities", ESL, sleep/dreams, movies/TV/video | Comment (0)Ode to a Weather Man (and an apology for breaking his heart)
Perfect suit, perfect hair,
You tell me of the weather
With such flair.
Cold fronts in, pressure high,
A storm system may be
Drawing nigh.
No matter what storms may come our way,
You’re always on air
Day by day.
Oh Bobby, my love, forgive me for leaving
You weeping, sobbing, bereft,
Bereaving.
I promise one day to quench your heart’s yearn.
I’ll show up at your studio.
Channel 12 New Bern.
